The present invention relates to a paddle craft with a deck or seat, and is particularly useful in kayaks to permit a kayaker to make modifications to adjustable items within the kayak even while he or she has his or her spray skirt on. While the primary discussion herein refers to kayaks, it should be understood that the improvements can be implemented in other paddle craft such as canoes and sit on top kayaks, including wave skis and still be within the scope of the invention.
In kayaks and other paddle craft, the boater establishes a very intimate relationship with the boat, and together they encounter the water. In particular, in turbulent conditions, this close association essentially results in the boat being an extension of the lower portion of the boater""s body, with the upper body sticking up above the boat, out of an opening on the deck of the boat called the cockpit. As one example, whitewater and sea kayaking often involve turbulent water around the kayaker. Even in flat water kayaking, the kayaker may perform Eskimo rolls, intentionally or not. In any of these cases, the top of the kayak is doused with copious amounts of water.
Traditionally, to prevent the water from entering into the kayak in these events, the kayaker wears a spray skirt which is made of water repellant material. The peripheral edge of the cockpit opening typically has an upturned, beaded edge, and the bottom of the skirt has elastic or a draw string so that it can be cinched around the upturned, beaded edge and held in place by constriction against the edge below the bead. The skirt extends up to the body of the kayaker and is cinched against the body to keep water from entering the cockpit. However, the skirt is typically loose enough so that the kayaker can move within the opening of the cockpit.
When the kayaker has such a skirt in place, he or she is typically not desirous of removing the skirt, because proper placement can be time consuming. This is particularly acute in whitewater, or rolling seas/lakes which may require quick reflexes. Thus, when the skirt is in place, the kayaker essentially cannot access the inside of the kayak with his hands. The lack of access to the interior of the kayak prevents the kayaker from being able to make adjustments to seat positions, foot post positions, foot brace positions, or the like. Thus, whatever that position is when the kayaker puts the skirt in place must be maintained as long as the skirt is in place. This can be uncomfortable, at best, or dangerous in the event that an adjustment to one of these features is required to give the kayaker maximum capabilities for dealing with dangerous circumstances. At other times it may be desirable to make adjustments for ergonomic or comfort reasons.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art to provide a modified kayak to promote a kayaker""s ability to make adjustments to internal settings in the kayak while the skirt is in place. Such a facility is also useful for circumstances where there is no skirt, whether the boat be a kayak or some other craft.
The present invention fulfills this need in the art by providing an apparatus for permitting adjustments of items within a kayak including an adjustment means adapted for mounting to a shell of a kayak, and a sealing sheet to cover the adjustment means when the adjustment means is mounted to a shell of a kayak and be sealed to the shell of the kayak, the sealing sheet having sufficient flexibility to permit a kayaker to manipulate the adjustment means through the sheet when the sealing sheet and adjustment means are mounted to a shell of a kayak. The adjustment means may take the form of a ratchet. The shell may be of rotomolded or thermoformed plastic, or composite materials.
The invention also provides an improved kayak providing a kayaker with exterior controls to adjust items within the kayak. The paddle craft includes a shell, the shell being made of a continuous surface to prevent the ingress of water except for a cockpit opening and at least one control opening, which is within a kayaker""s reach when the kayaker is sitting in the cockpit. A control mounted to the control opening is connected with an item in the kayak to be controlled. A sealing sheet covers the control and seals the control opening to prevent water from being able to pass into the kayak through the control opening. The sealing sheet has sufficient flexibility to permit a kayaker to manipulate the control through the sheet.
Typically, the controls affect ergonomic adjustments. For example, if the kayak has a movable seat, the control may be a seat position control. If the kayak has a foot brace, the control may be a foot brace position control. If the kayak has adjustable thigh braces, the control may be a thigh brace control. If the kayak has a seat and a foot brace, two control openings and corresponding sealing sheets for the two control openings may be provided, with a first control in one of the control openings as a seat position control and a second control in a second control opening as a foot brace position control. If the kayak has a seat with two adjustments, two control openings and corresponding sealing sheets for the two control openings may be provided, with a first control in one of the control openings being a first seat position control and a second control in a second control opening being a second seat position control. Alternatively, the two or more controls may be mounted to a single opening.
If the kayak has an adjustable backrest, the control may be a backrest adjustment control.
In one embodiment the control is a ratchet, which may be connected with the item to be controlled by a band having a length and denticulations that interact with the ratchet and advance the band as the ratchet is ratcheted. The ratchet may have a toggle to tension a strap within the kayak. Alternatively, a ratchet may have a rotating handle to tension a strap within the kayak.
In another embodiment a buckle winds up a strap, line, rope or webbing to advance the strap or webbing.
In another embodiment, the control is pneumatic, based on air pressure. In another embodiment, a rigid cable like a lawn mower throttle control can be used.
The invention also provides a method of kayaking including sitting in a cockpit of a kayak so that one""s upper body extends out of a cockpit opening, installing a spray skirt over the cockpit opening to provide a barrier between the outside of the kayak and the interior of the kayak, floating the kayak in a body of water, and manipulating a control on the outside of the kayak to make adjustments inside the kayak without removing the spray skirt.
Manipulating may include manipulating the control through a sealing sheet. Manipulating may include manipulating the control to change a seat position of the kayaker within the kayak, to change a foot brace position, or to change a backrest adjustment. Manipulating may include actuating a ratchet to advance a band.
The kayak may be a sit-on-top kayak or a sit-inside cockpit kayak.